War Day 822: Mark Wahlberg and Ukraine
The church at the edge of the free world
Ukrainian Freedom News: THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE DAILY LOOK AT THE REALITY IN UKRAINE.
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#StayPrayedUp in … Kharkiv?
KHARKIV, UKRAINE—Every Sunday, Mark Wahlberg @markwahlberg makes a video from a Catholic church around the world after he goes to Mass. “Stay prayed up!” he says. I was thinking of these videos when, while the Russians were attacking, I visited Holy Family Catholic parish in Kharkiv, Ukraine. I asked the pastor, Father Mykola, if American Catholic groups had visited his parish in a heavily-bombed neighborhood these past two years.
“Nope,” Father said.
And yet it’s such an inspiring place: an outpost of faith, hope, and charity, at the border with Mordor. “This is a war against demons,” Father told me, still smiling even through the hell.
So I invite Mark Wahlberg, and other brave Catholics, to at least give a thought to Father Mykola’s parish, where the priests and nuns refuse to leave so that they can give solace and help to a battered but fiercely free population.
What Changed Between 2020 and 2024 in Europe, the Middle East, and the USA? Here’s a look:
WGN RADIO DAILY WAR JOURNAL
War Day 820: Are the Soviets Really Gone?
🇺🇦 Every Day Until Victory on Chicago’s WGN Radio with Bob Sirott: Joe Lindsley reports every single weekday 10 minutes from Ukraine 🎙️ Friday 24 May 2024
LVIV—I share a story showing the depth of Russian destruction after two years of this war.
UKRAINIAN FREEDOM VOICES
"I think we need to allow Ukraine to prosecute the war the way they see fit. They need to be able to fight back, and I think trying to micromanage the effort there is not a good policy for us" says U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, urging the White House to allow Ukraine to use American tools to hit Russian military targets.
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I was reciting Rudyard Kipling’s “If” with friends on a supply delivery trip to Donbas.
And during that road trip I realized this: In the ancient and still flourishing Ukrainian language, the word for “if” literally means “how-what”: a workman like idea of how to achieve the impossible. Because Ukraine never colonized other countries, the Ukrainian language is an easy window into how early Indo-European humans forumated language based on necessity and possibility. —Joe Lindsley
Quick Hits
Benya Stewart @benya.stewart is an American musician from Ohio who, because he believes in freedom and the Ukrainian spirit, now lives in Kyiv. He teaches English, works with Ukrainian folk musicians, and often plays music near the front for soldiers and civilians. Sometimes he sings in Ukrainian, which we’ll share that in the future.
From my interview with Benya in our Land of the Free Podcast with Ukrainska Pravda. @ukrpravda_eng
Ukrainian Freedom Supply: Tools for victory
Thanks to our WGN Radio audience in the USA for continued support of our war reporting and of the civilians-turned-soldiers who stand at the front. Here’s a greeting from a Ukrainian Border Guard—incredibly crucial as Russian desperately tries to break into Kharkiv region—saying just how great it is that we got them some walkie-talkies. These little things make a positive difference. We welcome support here.
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ABOUT US: Reporting Every Single Weekday Since Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion
"Joseph Lindsley's reports are enlightening, frightening, heart-wrenchingly and poetically descriptive." —a regular listener to the daily report from Ukraine on Chicago's WGN Radio with Bob Sirott
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